Sister's
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Prompt fill from tumblr could you make one where alec choose izzy's safety over clary's whithout thinking and without regrets please?


A lot of people thought that Alec was too uptight, too dedicated to the Clave, too repressed. Apparently, he needed to think about himself more, follow his heart and all that jazz. But what most people didn't understand was that he couldmt think only of himself and he never could completely.

Alec wasn't just a shadowhunter, or a son, or a boyfriend. He was a big brother. He hadn't been in this world very long before Izzy came along, and she had become his responsibility. And then came Jace and Max a little later and they become his responsibility too, and they always would be.

He loved his siblings more than anything and he would always be there to protect them.

Jace was older than Izzy but they had been trained together and fought more like equals, and Izzy nor Jace had ever had to take Max into battle, so they couldn't understand why Alec was always so focussed on protecting them.

They didn't understand why Alec's first concern in missions was them and their safety, even above his own. But that's the way it was.

So, when it came down to a choice between Izzy's safety and Clary's, Alec chose his sister without a pause.

They had been sent to collect a vampire for questioning by the Clave, which Camille hadn't been happy about. She was one of her favoured children and so she demanded an exchange until her soldier came home, unharmed.

"One of your female warriors must stay. You cannot leave unless you choose."

They'd been surrounded and left with no option, Clary or Izzy would have to stay. Alec immediately pulled Izzy away from the other vampires, tugging her to his side as he glared as they approached.

"Clary will stay. We'll return your vampire as soon as we can but Clary must return to us unharmed."

Jace had looked horrified, looking at Alec as if he'd given her away to be killed, and poor Clary looked so scared.

It's not like Alec wanted to put Clary in danger, but he wouldn't allow his sister to be put in harm's way.

"Alec, we can't leave her here."

Alec looked at Jace with a stony expression, his eyes were apologetic but he wasn't going to change his mind.

"We have to."

Jace gripped his brothers arm, desperately searching for a way to convince him although he knew there was none.

"They'll hurt her or trick her into some blood oath, you know how they are. Izzy will be able to handle herself with them Clary won't."

Alec shook his head and moved towards Clary, shaking off Jace's hand. He gently took her arm as she watched him with a horrified expression, drawing runes on her. Clary was brave but the vampire surrounding her were already hissing and Camille was known for her tricks and viciousness.

"This rune will keep you from being encato'ed so they can't control you. Don't drink anything and try to keep your distance but be polite, we don't want to piss them off. You won't be here long, even if the vampire needs to be questioned or held longer, we'll come and get you and have one of the Clave's representatives switch with you."

Clary nodded and didn't say anything, looking down at her rune.

Alec wanted to say something. To apologise or explain. But there wasn't time, so he simply patted her shoulder and left, dragging Jace and Izzy with him and the prisoner.

Jace exploded when they got back to the institute, he was furious and felt betrayed, eyes conveying his sadness as well as the anger. Alec found it hard to look at him.

"How could you just leave her there? They could turn her into a subjugate or flat out kill her!"

"You know they won't do that while we have their-"

"You don't know! This could be a trap! You wouldn't let Izzy stay because you didn't want to put her life in danger, but you left Clary there?!"

Alec clenched his hands into fists, more desperate than angry.

"Yes, because it's my job to protect our sister, always and before anyone else! I didn't want to leave anyone there, if I could have I would have stayed myself but I couldn't! I'm sorry we had to leave Clary, but it was my only option."

Jace shook his head and stormed off to get rid of his anger through training, leaving Alec to sigh and go wait out the trial.

As promised, Clary wasn't left with the vampires for long. Alec and the others picked her up after a few hours, Jace running to hug her while Alec returned Camille's vampire. Jace had thoroughly checked Clary over and ignored Alec's presence when they got her back to the institute.

Surprisingly it was Clary that tried to get him to understand.

"Jace, seriously it was fine. You shouldn't be mad at Alec. Camille just gave me tea-which I didn't drink- and asked about Alec and Magnus' relationship and how Simon was doing."

Alec looked at her at the mention of his and Magnus' name. She raised her hands in front of her.

"I didn't tell her anything."

Jace was still mad but looked relieved and gave Alec a small look as he left. It wasn't quite a smile but it was passive enough that Alec knew they were good. He turned to Clary once he'd left, gently taking her arm in his hand to get her attention.

"Clary, you know I didn't want to leave you there, right? I would have taken your place if I could but- "

She shrugged. "It's okay, I get it. Izzy's your sister."

"Yes, and she will always come first, before anyone else, even myself. It wasn't personal it just happened to be you. Izzy's my baby sister and I will always put her safety above everyone else's, without hesitation."

Clary nodded, and Alec was grateful she was so understanding. He had felt awful about leaving her with Camille.

"It's fine. Jace is just being over protective I guess."

Alec nodded, relieved at the subject change.

"Yeah, I think he's finally getting what it's like to be a big brother."

Clary smiled.

"What is it like to be an older brother?"

Alec's eyes rolled at just the thought of all he had to deal with. "Constant worrying, and they never listen to what you tell them. I save their lives about once every mission too, because they've gotten so used to me watching out for them they forget to watch their backs. Jace especially, you should watch for that too, he's always gonna forget to protect his own back, even when protecting yours."

Clary laughed as Alec smiled fondly.

"It's good too though. I used to braid Izzy's hair for her when she was little and couldn't do it by herself. For a while I thought that was going to be useful if I ever found a girl that I liked."

He smiled at her.

"I guess that's not happening. I wouldn't change anything though. Being a big brother is such a big part of who I am that I don't know who I'd be without them. I guess that's why I'm so protective of them."

Clary smiled and Alec sighed.

"Come on, we should find your big brother and convince him to forgive me. Maybe you could do that thing with your eyes that Izzy always does when she wants something."

"Pouting and puppy dog eyes? That works? On you?"

"Every freaking time."


End file.
